The Tower of Babel: Language as Power. Silence as Self.
Language is our greatest tool, and our greatest obstacle. I was listening to Alan Watts’ The Power of Space, and he observes how all language is learned. Language comes from our community, and when we fill our inner world with language, we are not thinking our own thoughts.
Yet, the use of language is essential to our evolution thus far. As Aristotle says, “man is a political animal.” We are social creatures. Building communities is the beginning of building civilization.
However, the specifics of language are not inherent. In fact, it is quite the contrary. If they were, we would all speak the same language. Even those who speak the same language, will eventually sound completely different if given enough time and distance.
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On a philosophical level, language is our capacity to abstract concepts from the natural world. It is the epistemic center of how we gain knowledge and progress. While this is fundamental to how we build and shape reality, it is not true knowledge.
For example, We abstract the concept of a chair from a grouping of objects that share similar qualities. This gives us the illusion that we have knowledge of what a chair is. But, when you look closer this knowledge is cloudy.
What makes a chair a chair? Does it have 4 legs? Some chairs have less or more. Is it used for sitting? Some chairs are not meant to be sat in, if on display, like at a museum or art gallery. Does a chair have a back? Not all chairs do. When is a chair a bench? And so on and so forth ad infinitum...
There will always be an exception to our definitions. Using language to describe the true nature of reality is, as Alan Watts says, like trying to capture a river in a bucket. Despite this, language still carries immense divinity.
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IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. John 1:1
We are divine fractals of the cosmic tapestry of infinite consciousness that weaves through all of existence, natural law, and being. As fractals, we are a mirrored reflection of the All, like dew drops on an etheric web.
Language is how we create. Language is how we manifest. ABRACADABRA - a phrase we have all heard before - means I CREATE AS I SPEAK.
As Above, So Below. We can create our world with the intention of both speech and thought. The way we speak to others and ourselves shapes the reality that we live in. But, to think that language and the symbols it creates is what holds all power is how we get trapped in the illusions of the Ego.
This is the lesson of the Tower of Babel. A unified people with a single language build a tower that reaches for the heavens. In their hubris, they believe that their power rivals that of God. They did not see themselves as fractals of a divine consciousness, but as equal to it, even greater than it. Thus the very language that once unified them with God splinters them, and creates the illusion of separation.
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Our true power lies in the space between, in the backdrop behind language, in the silence.
Reality is the canvas, language is the paint. To mistake the paint for the canvas, is to live in confusion and suffering.
Remember that the way you speak in your inner world is the key to your outer world. We must each bring peace to this place to bring peace to the world.
Remember the lily of the field, and be silent. That way, when you do speak, it carries the weight of Creation.